Review: Sleeping Giants

Title: Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1)
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: This will come out April 26th 2016
How I got this book: I was lucky enough to get an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
My rating: 5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:
17 years ago: A girl from South Dakota falls through the earth, then wakes up dozens of feet below ground on the palm of what seems to be a giant metal hand. 

Today: She is a top-level physicist leading a team of people to understand exactly what the hand is, where it came from, and what it portends for humanity. A swift and spellbinding tale told almost exclusively through transcriptions conducted by a mysterious and unnamed character, this is a unique debut that describes a hunt for truth, power, and giant body parts.

My thoughts:
I never read sci-fi so I don’t have much to compare this to, but I did love it. I finished it in one sitting because I wasn’t able to put it down. I’m so glad I had the chance to read it through NetGalley.

There are plenty of characters in this story, and they were all interesting. This is written as a typical novel, but it’s written in transcripts from interview, experiment logs and diaries. There’s one main character throughout this book, but we never learn his/her name. Hshe is very mysterious, and the one arranging everything.

The plot is super fast paced, and all the science stuff doesn’t get in the way. I do not know a lot about science, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying this book. It was, obviously, a huge factor in the book, but not in the way that you had to understand everything.

I was not bored once whilst reading this book, and I can’t wait for the next book to come out. Though it might be a while, as I read this in March and it doesn’t come out until April 26th, which is not long for those of you reading this review. Even though this book is based entirely on dialogue, I had no problems imagining everything in my head. I saw the pictures clear as day.

I’m having a hard time reviewing this book, because I liked it so much. I don’t want to spoil anything for you, because there are so many things that happen throughout the story. I recommend that you all read it, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Even if you don’t read sci-fi that much, you should give this book a try. I did, and I don’t regret it at all. 

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Review: The Girl on the Train

Title: The Girl on the Train
Author: Paula Hawkins

Publisher: Riverhead Books
Year published: 2015
How I got this book: From my parents on my birthday this year
My rating: 4,5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She's even started to feel like she knows them. "Jess and Jason," she calls them. Their life - as she sees it - is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.

And then she sees something shocking. It's only a minute until the train moves on, but it's enough. now everything's changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she know to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

My thoughts:
  I’ve never read a book like The Girl on the Train before. I can’t stop thinking about it. I heard a lot of great things about it before I even got it, but it totally lived up to my expectations. This review will not contain spoilers, but it is a book I would go into knowing as little as possible.

First of all, we have the main character, Rachel. I did not know what to think about her. I wanted to like her and feel for her, I really did, I just couldn’t. Every time I started to warm up to her, she did something to make me mad at her again. Still, I liked to read as Rachel. She was super interesting, and we never truly got to know her. I also loved the fact that she was completely unreliable, even though it made it frustrating at times.

The other characters were just as great and complex. I couldn’t decide who I liked more or less than any of the others. They all had so many sides to them, that you were bound to like something and hate something else. Throughout the book we learn more and more about each character, but you truly don’t understand anything until the very end.

We read from three perspectives in this book, Rachel, Megan and Anna. It was a bit confusing at first, because we don’t follos Rachel’s and Megan’s story at the same time. Megan’s story takes place before the Rachel’s, and I was confused by that in the beginning, but you get used to it. You just have to pay attention to the dates at the beginning of each chapter.

As I stated in the beginning, I really enjoyed this book. It took me a couple chapters to get into the story, but after that I finished it in one sitting. The story grabs you, and it refuses to let go until you’ve finished. It’s definitely a more mature book, but if you like thrillers this is definitely your cup of tea.

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Top Ten Tuesday: Books to read if you like Greek mythology

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

In this list I'm only including books I've read myself (except The Iliad), and I've enjoyed all of them. If you have any more recommendations of books about Greek mythology, please leave them in the comments down below, because I just can't get enough!

The Odyssey and The Iliad by Homer

The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan

The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson's Greek Heroes and Percy Jackson's Greek Gods by Rick Riordan

The Starcrossed trilogy by Josephine Angelini

The Greek Myths: Stories of the Greek gods and heroes vividly retold by Robin Waterfield and Kathryn Waterfield

Top Ten Tuesday: Booktubers

Top Ten Tuesday his hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This week the themes is accounts to follow on social media, and I decided to narrow it down to just youtube. I watch quite a lot of booktubers, and if you haven't seen any of these yet, you should check them out! In no particular order, her are my favourite booktubers.

Jessethereader

Katytastic

PolandbananasBOOKS

PeruseProject

Booksandquills

BooksandLala

Abookutopia

Readbyzoe

Those are my favourite booktubers, though I probably forgot someone. Do you have any other favourites that I didn't mention?

Review: The Bell Jar

Title: The Bell Jar
Author: Sylvia Plath
Year published: 1963
How I got this book: Borrowing it from my teacher
My rating: 4,5 stars

Goodreads synopsis:
Sylvia Plath's shocking, realistic, and intensely emotional novel about a woman falling into the grup of insanity.

Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under - maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia PLath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational - as accessible an experience as going to the  movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.

My thoughts:
I've always wanted to read some of Sylvia Plath's writing, so when I had the chance to read it for my English class I was thrilled. Finally I could choose a book I actually wanted to read, and therefore make the schoolwork so much more enjoyable.

Enjoyable might not be the right word. I did really like this book, but it's not a fun book. Esther is spiraling down into depression, but she's still witty at times, though that disappears through the book. I've never read any book like this one, but I am so glad that I chose this. And because it's for school, I've been studying it a lot more, and therefore I've understood more than what I possibly would have if I'd just read it at home.

I don't know what to say about, except that you should read it. Even if you think you wouldn't like it, you should give it a chance. I understand why it is so famous, and why so many people have read.

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